TY - JOUR
T1 - Specific versus general skills and abilities
T2 - A job level examination of relationships with wage
AU - Rotundo, Maria
AU - Sackett, Paul R.
PY - 2004/6
Y1 - 2004/6
N2 - The extensive literature purporting an upgrading in occupational skill requirements paired with the perception of a skill shortage in the workforce calls for the need to develop workplace skills and abilities. However, decisions about which skills to develop would be aided by information about which skills/abilities are valued most highly and lead to higher wage jobs. The job evaluation literature and labour-market wage theory present competing hypotheses about skill-wage relationships. The ACT Inc.'s Work Keys® system, the prototype Occupational Information Network, and the fourth edition Dictionary of Occupational Titles job analytic databases were paired with concurrent wage data. These data made it possible to conduct a job-level evaluation of whether specific skills/abilities could be identified that were most strongly linked to wage or whether broad skill/ability factors accounted for a majority of wage variance. Results indicated that a majority of the wage variance explainable by skills/abilities could be attributed to a general cognitive factor.
AB - The extensive literature purporting an upgrading in occupational skill requirements paired with the perception of a skill shortage in the workforce calls for the need to develop workplace skills and abilities. However, decisions about which skills to develop would be aided by information about which skills/abilities are valued most highly and lead to higher wage jobs. The job evaluation literature and labour-market wage theory present competing hypotheses about skill-wage relationships. The ACT Inc.'s Work Keys® system, the prototype Occupational Information Network, and the fourth edition Dictionary of Occupational Titles job analytic databases were paired with concurrent wage data. These data made it possible to conduct a job-level evaluation of whether specific skills/abilities could be identified that were most strongly linked to wage or whether broad skill/ability factors accounted for a majority of wage variance. Results indicated that a majority of the wage variance explainable by skills/abilities could be attributed to a general cognitive factor.
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U2 - 10.1348/096317904774202108
DO - 10.1348/096317904774202108
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:3042815168
SN - 0963-1798
VL - 77
SP - 127
EP - 148
JO - Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
JF - Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
IS - 2
ER -